6 Cylinder Towing Review

Bumped for hedman!

 

Great info. I am looking forward to towing my boat this spring and seeing a difference. After I put my lift and big tires on my truck was working WAY hard while towing. Hopefully the supercharger, CAI, and exhaust will wake it up! Thanks again for the info!

 

The thing that will make the most difference for you is to re-gear your differentials to compensate for your tires. And its cheaper than a super charger.

 

thanks for the bump, i'll definitely do this then because the over all improvement in gas mileage will benefit me. As i am averaging 3000kms, or 1800 miles a month of mainly highway driving so i'll see the benefits all around from a S/C.

Also this is what i originally expected from a S/C when towing.

 

Do a search on the CAI, from what I've heard, it's more of a "sound enhancement" than actually adding power.

 

general question on the gas do you have to run 91 octane or can you go lower and if you have to run 91 octane wouldn't that counter act the over all cost of gas consumption per mile.

 

Yes, you must run at least 91. It does offset the savings some, but the biggest advantage is the truck is just not working as hard. Your around town mileage should increase. In warm weather I can get 20 mpg pretty easy on my 20 mile daily commute.

 

Okay, so.. this is probably a stupid question and you may have answered it here already but I missed it...

Did you find hills and things much easier now that you have the S/C?

Im thinking about gettng a travel trailor and was wondering if a s/c would be alright or if I should trade in for a tundra. I LOVE my taco.

How do u like the S/C overall? You recomend it?

Thanks!
-Flashy

(From my droidX)

 

Yes, the Taco pulls the hills MUCH easier with the S/C. In addition to the enclosed trailer I pull, I also tow a 4,000lb tractor on a trailer, and a 3,800lb boat. I absolutely recommend the S/C. Plus, it's a hoot to puff just about any V-8 truck.

 

Resurrecting this thread OP, I have a few questions about your S/C'er. I currently tow a 16' Toy Hauler that weighs about 3500 empty and with my motorcycle and gear in it probably about 4700. It is on the tall & wider side than most RV's, needless to say I get a lot of drag. I know the mileage sucks ass, so I won't ask on that part, but I am wanting more speed with lower rpm's. Currently with no head wind, I can tow at about 55-60 comfortably with the engine at 2500 rpms, but getting it up higher my rpm will jump to about 3300-3700, which I don't like. Will the supercharger allow me to tow it at the higher speed and keep the rpms down low? I would like to tow at about 65-70 and keep the rpms below 2800 rpms. I just don't want to feel as if the truck is working too hard. any input would be great?

 

The altitude, gear ratio and air pressure in your tires has a lot to do with the towing.
Just got back from a trip in Colorado. The total mileage was 5000 and I spent around $3000 in gas. In the way to Denver I hit a high , head wind most of the time and I barely got more then 125 miles of a tank before the red light will come on. I spent my time on 4th gear at about 50-55 mph. In Denver I had my gears changed to 4.56 and was hopping that would improve a little. The only thing that changed is that the truck will stay longer in 5th gear before it drops another gear. Based on my experience with this truck, equipped with a supercharger and 33"tires is that - the truck looks good and perform pretty good now that I did the gear swap but if towing is part of your daily job ????? I would strongly consider a full size-Cummins. I got to camp with guys that towed campers three times bigger then mine and got twice my mileage.
This a pic of what I towed.

 

Hate to just repeat, but:
First off, the shifting, rpm's, mileage, etc. was virtually the same as without the S/C! I truly expected some kind of difference, but there was not. However, the actual performance was very impressive. Hills that would make it downshift before were topped with only sometimes unlocking the torque converter, and in most instances, it stayed locked. I still could not efficiently tow with the cruise on, mileage was in the 8mpg range. Without cruise, I got 10.7 avg., running the A/C.
All in all, the extra power came at no penalty.

I'm very satisfied with the truck as a package. I tow as described about once a month during racing season, so 6-8 times per year. If I towed a lot more, I would get a diesel truck of some flavor. But as it is, it's more important to me to not have to wrestle a big sled like that as a daily driver.

 

I leave tomorrow morning for my first trip towing my boat (18.5' Fisk & Ski) now that I'm supercharged. Last year on this same trip (only about 350 miles) my truck was working very hard...it was my first trip after my lift and 33" Duratracs. I chased my brother-in-law pulling his 19' bass boat with his Tundra and had a hard time keeping up. I am anxious to see if I can keep pace without my Taco working too hard. I don't have any numbers as far as RPMs or MPGs but I will try and keep track on this trip.

 

So how did it go Gusher? Are you toe to toe with your B-law's Tundra now?

 

Not sure I'd say toe-to-toe but I will say a huge improvement. On the highway we averaged 75 mph and I was able to tow in "D" for the most part without down-shifting everytime I touched the gas pedal. I stayed in "4" once we got off the highway and was very pleased with the performance. I averaged 10.2 mpg which is OK...not great but I'm OK with that. All-in-all I was quite pleased.

So the Tundra had a little more power but mine sounded better!

 

What type of rear suspension improvements have you guys done if any?

 

OME Dakar Leaf Pack has been the best thing I've done so far for towing. It is stiff enough to keep it from sagging while towing but doesn't make the ride rough.

 

I haven't done anything except for the TSB rear springs. My rear end does squat some (~ 3") when I tow my boat. I may put air bags out back at some point to help.

 

Just the TSB springs for me. I get about 1-2"sag with 550lbs on the tongue of the trailer.

 

The only thing I tow is a 5x10 utility trailer with a honda 500 4-wheeler on it. It doesn't squat but maybe 1.5" or so but I keep feeling like I need more support in the rear. I got air bags but I felt that was overkill and I didn't like having to manually air up the bags and constantly check the psi. I had the dealer looking at a vibration issue (~20 mph) and they told me to take them off so they know if the bags are causing it or not. So I took them off but never had time to bring the truck back to the dealership. I'm considering putting the bags back on and getting a air compressor system with guages or just getting an AAL done. I found an AAL online for $46 and a local shop here will put it on for $50 so all in all I would only be spending $100. If I can sell my bags for $200 I'll at least have $100 back in my pocket. I'm just worried that putting an AAL on will raise the back in up enough to make the vibration even worse because I feel like it's a driveshaft angle/alignment issue.